RUMOR's crew: Caila Johnson, Kaity Storck, Erik Storck, John Storck, III and John Storck, Jr.
The Jackson Five they're not, but they sure put on a show. The Storck family team (not one a sailmaker) prevailed again as J/80 North American Champions with a dramatic finish over a very strong fleet that saw competitors from Canada as well as from far-away places like Denmark, Hong Kong and Japan! It was an extraordinary event hosted by Beverly Yacht Club. Three great days of sailing, 13 races and in wind conditions that varied considerably, providing a tremendous test for all 44 teams. And, it certainly proved to be an excellent "training" event for all teams participating in the J/80 Worlds happening in Newport, R.I., in early October. Perhaps what was most remarkable about the quality and depth of the fleet was the fact that EIGHT different boats won over the course of thirteen races! Boats were loaded with talent with National, North American, World Champions, college All-Americans and College Sailors of the Year spread across the top 15 boats.
John Storck, Jr., said, �It was a great family adventure. My wife, Colette, and I sailed our Ericson 39, JONROB, up to Marion prior to the regatta and we used it as our home for the event. It was special because the JONROB was were our kids all had their very first sailing experiences. At the awards ceremony I told everyone, 'take your kids sailing'. That is how Colette and I ended up with kids who love to sail.��
The fleet was blessed with blustery NNW winds on Friday. It was clear the Storck's (John Jr (Dad), sons John III (helming) and Erik, daughter Kaity and Caila Johnson) threw down the gauntlet early and were not to be denied, winning the first race in their well-known boat RUMOR. This race proved to be a premonition of things to come, as three of the top four in the race took the top three overall! The fleet continued to be treated with great racing conditions all day and PRO "Sam the Man" Vineyard pulled off five races by 5pm... a fun but exhausting nine-plus hours of sailing!
After a windy Saturday, on Sunday the fleet was treated to another excellent day of sailing with NE-ENE winds in the 8-17 knot range. With the regatta on the line, it was clear the top five boats were very aware of their placement relative to one another. Jeff Johnstone's LITTLE FEAT drew first blood, opening the first two races with a 1-2. The Storck's started the day slowly, getting themselves in trouble with a 16-6 while Glenn Darden started with an 8-7. The result of these finishes were that Darden's LE TIGRE could win the regatta if he could press Johnstone's LITTLE FEAT below 20th in the last race and simply hope that the Storck's RUMOR wouldn't get anything higher than a 2nd. Darden succeeded in pushing back Johnstone, but he could do nothing but watch the Storck's sail an incredibly dramatic race to win the last one, the biggest one, to take the regatta!
The Storck�s closely trailed Terry Flynn around four legs of the five leg race. At the last leeward gate, the Storck�s split with Flynn who went to the right gate (looking downwind) in order to get to the left side of the beat which had been paying for almost the whole regatta. But Kaity saw new wind coming from the southeast, so RUMOR headed for the left gate. They went a short way upwind on port, got knocked and tacked to starboard. They got progressively lifted, which left Flynn behind and to leeward. The final results were Storck's RUMOR, Darden's LE TIGRE followed by Johnstone's LITTLE FEAT. UK-Halsey�s Kerry Klingler, past J/80 World Champion was fifth.
�Our UK-Halsey sails are terrific,� said Storck. �In May, Kerry [Klingler] convinced me to buy a new, new main that needed the rig set up totally differently in order to get more point out of the boat. I would have never dreamed those changes would have worked, but Kerry�s mentoring was great. For the first time racing the boat we had better pointing ability than some of the other boats I use as benchmarks. Our MatriX string sail jib is the same design as the one we used in Key West two years ago. It is perfect and very easy to trim. As the owner of Huntington Jeep Chrysler Dodge, I know how important customer service is to my customers and in the sailmaking business it is just as important. Our results would be much less impressive without the help we got from Kerry.�
For full results of the J/80 North Americans,
go to http://www.j80buzzardsbay.com/2010/results.pdf
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